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/lit/ - Literature

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3909743 No.3909743 [Reply] [Original]

Why does it feel so wrong to write about computers?

I've been using computers almost daily for more than a decade now and people who had access to them have been using them even longer. Yet, whenever I read a novel that talks about characters using computers, it comes off as instantly dated, like it's trying too hard to be edgy and "new".

If I'm trying to write a scene where a character is contacting someone, in 2013 odds are they'd be contacting that person via e-mail. But to say "She wrote an e-mail" seems so shitty. Actually putting the e-mail into the novel would be even shittier. So instead, everyone is still writing letters, making phone calls and having real life meetings like it's 1935.

>> No.3909752

I know what you mean but at the same time I prefer talking in person or over the phone to writing an email anyway, unless it's something really trivial or it's a follow up to an earlier conversation.

>> No.3909770

>>3909752
Text messaging is also a very common way to communicate. 99% of my communication with my boss or co-workers that take place outside of the workplace are done via text message. How the fuck does one go about describing the way people actually communicate today without seeming like an ultra hip tryhard novel for the next generation?

>> No.3909774

Technological references always become dated, is maybe why.

You can either buck up and accept the usage of email, and the like; or have it set prior to computers.

>> No.3909795

I just happened to be reading a novel where the main character has multiple chats with a girl over the internet. The conversations are written as-they-are, with all the abbreviations and stuff typical of online messaging. And it doesn't feel edgy at all, really. It's used to portray the stupidity of the girl he's talking to (who's a literature major and writes like crap, among other things) in a very legitimate way.

>> No.3909817

>>3909774
>Technological references always become dated, is maybe why.

Like a fucking phone call?

It doesn't feel right because you never read that in a classic. Like an old man eating a Twix.

>> No.3909824

>>3909817
Things like phonecalls and letters are the most dated shit ever, but they don't feel that way. For whatever reason, they always feel right at home within pretty much any story, regardless of when it's set.

>> No.3909834
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3909834

wimp

>> No.3909836

>>3909824
probably because of when you're set ;)

>> No.3909851

are you sure it's limited to computers?
it's probably just redundant info without any stylistic or dramatic purpose.

>> No.3909859

>>3909743
>But to say "She wrote an e-mail" seems so shitty

No it doesn't. Do any of you even read contemporary fiction?

>> No.3909868

>>3909859
>Do any of you even read contemporary fiction?
I try to avoid it, tbh. Mostly because I don't want to read something as shitty as "She wrote an e-mail"

>> No.3909866

>>3909859
cool benchmark bro

>> No.3909871

It's a really good question.
One major part of this is that people don't type how they talk.

In fact, pretty much everyone who doesn't use forums or imageboards and sticks to e-mail and social networking types in a really stilted fashion at best, like they're writing for a teacher or something in high school, or writing a formal letter to a higher-up.
Even still, it's not up to that standard mostly, and then there's the spelling and grammar and punctuation usage.

At worst it's "lol u tk him 2 da bar/?" type shit.

How do you even go about writing them?

Something like:
She checked her inbox. A single unread message. "Meet me at the park. 2 O'clock."

Reads like one of those shitty CSI shows where they HACK THE MAINFRAME by typing very quickly.

If you try to do it too real and start writing about how he logged into his Facebook then NO THANKS, I'm not reading. It can't be written well at all, and the only people who will like it are the ones who will say "OMG FACEBOOK JUST LIKE REAL LIFE <3".

I've never seen it handled well, in any case.

The only real way to do it is to step it up a notch and make the technology in your setting a little more advanced and integrated with life in the setting, or stick to phonecalls and letters. That stuff can never go wrong.

I remember reading something interesting about this, an article about (newspaper) comics.

There was an old comic artist saying that all the props like old dial-up phones and boxy TV's are wha make the comics, and that phasing them out for modern stuff would mean a huge change for the industry.

I'll take a few minutes to dig it up, I hope you'll find it relevant...

>> No.3909881

>>3909866
Useful word, but you used it wrong.

>> No.3909882

>>3909871

http://blog.tompappalardo.com/?p=2016

Here's the link.

>> No.3909883

>>3909868
>I try to avoid it, tbh

>>>/ktt/

>> No.3909885

>>3909871
That article sounds interesting, I'd love to read it.

I guess what I'll end up doing is writing technology out somehow. Probably by making one or both characters too poor to have the internet or something like that.

>> No.3909888

>>3909871
>In fact, pretty much everyone who doesn't use forums or imageboards and sticks to e-mail and social networking types in a really stilted fashion at best, like they're writing for a teacher or something in high school, or writing a formal letter to a higher-up.

What? It's pretty much the exact opposite.

>> No.3909894

If you're a good writer, it won't be a problem.

>> No.3909896

>>3909888
I don't know about that. It depends on the intelligence of the person and whether or not they're trying to be casual.

My mother, for instance, is a pretty smart woman but her e-mails read like 9th-grade term papers, simply because she tries too hard to be formal and thinks that's necessary.

On the other hand, my boss sends me texts and e-mails that are written like shit because he just writes them quickly and uses as many abbreviations as possible. He's too old to ever have gotten into the habit of typing conversationally on a forum or in a chat window.

>> No.3909899

>>3909894
Fuck you for being so glib. It isn't a problem because I'm going to write my way around it. I just wanted to talk about why it might be a problem and why it's an obstacle at all.

>> No.3909900
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3909900

>>3909881
nope, i was semantically spot-on

>> No.3909909

>>3909899
It isn't an obstacle, though.

>> No.3909927

>>3909909
You're right I guess it isn't an obstacle for a shitty writer who doesn't know their own limits.

>> No.3909931

>>3909824
>letters are the most dated shit ever, but they don't feel that way
if you set it in the current era, letters feel dated as shit

>> No.3909935

>>3909927
>incredibly mad for some reason

I wonder why you think everybody shares the same "limits" as you.

>> No.3909939

>>3909935
I don't think that at all, I've just never read this sort of thing done well and I'm apparently not the only person who feels that way.

>> No.3909943

>>3909871
>It's a really good question.
it isn't
>One major part of this is that people don't type how they talk.
I don't think so, Jim
>pretty much everyone who doesn't use forums or imageboards and sticks to e-mail and social networking types in a really stilted fashion at best
nope
>Reads like one of those shitty CSI shows
you're right, you're a terrible writer.
>start writing about how he logged into his Facebook
well yeah, it's a very simple process and it's almost a given. would be a very bad choice to do the description
>make the technology in your setting a little more advanced and integrated with life in the setting
nope, not the only choice
>old dial-up phones and boxy TV's are wha make the comics
wut? that's simply wrong

>> No.3909944

>>3909943

Go back to your alt-lit shite on tumblr.

>> No.3909947

>>3909927
jesus, lady... come back when your period is over

>> No.3909948

>>3909944
funny. don't even use tumblr, nor twitter, etc

>> No.3909949

>>3909944
Huh? He's right. Some of you just need to work on your writing.

>> No.3909993

it just fucking feels so informal I have no idea what is wrong but I have the same thing, OP. I just cant fucking write using modern era terms/technology without cringing...

>> No.3910009

>>3909743
>So instead, everyone is still writing letters, making phone calls and having real life meetings like it's 1935.
Seriously, who the hell are you reading?

>> No.3910048

>>3910009
I'm talking about my own writing.

However, I have yet to read anything good that actually makes use of contemporary means of communication.

>> No.3910050

>>3910048
Check out Richard Yates by Tao Lin.

>> No.3910065

>>3910048
Try Zadie Smith "On Beauty"

>> No.3910093

You have to just treat it like it isn't even a thing. When you're talking about a phone conversation you wouldn't say, 'John dialed Marsha on the telephone."

You'd say, "John called Marsha to tell her ..."

The phone call isn't even important. It's become ubiquitous enough that you can just proceed immediately to the information being conveyed. Do the same thing with emails/texts/google/etc. Drop the appropriate verb and move on.

>> No.3910170

>>3910093
This, mostly.

Also because even though the internet is great and has all these conveniences, in the frame of communication it hasn't really developed anything new as a plot device. E-mail is still the long distance, non-instant communication that letters were and instant messaging is still the long-distance, instant communication that telephones were. Technology only really works when as a plot device or if there is a relevant theme. Just offhandedly mention some tech jargon is useless and would probably get removed by an editor anyway.

>> No.3910813

>>3909743
Perhaps you should read some of William Gibson's stuff. I'm talking beyond Neuromancer though. All of his stuff is good.